Apple has finalised its own method of wireless charging for various products, which has been revealed in a patent application today.
Several employees of the Cupertino Company have lambasted wireless charging in the past, although it seems they’ve been working on something behind the scenes for some time. Looking at the patent itself, it looks as though Apple wants to use an iMac as the power provider, emitting a “wireless charging area” that can be used by multiple devices.
Whereas rival manufacturers are currently employing the Qi inductive wireless charging standard with a single charging pad, Apple looks to provide wireless charging for multiple devices from one source, presumably using one of its own proprietary technologies.
One patent design shows the iMac at the centre of a wireless charging area, with peripherals such as a keyboard or mouse able to connect to the power and effectively repeat and forward the charging signal further, like a Wi-Fi repeater would do. The technology behind this is known as Near Field Magnetic Resonance, or NFMR for short.
According to the design, an iMac, Magic Mouse and keyboard can interconnect to create a wireless charging area that extends to around one metre (3 feet) away from the central charging station, which is the iMac. In theory users will then be able to sit their iPhone, iPad or iPod down in the area and let it charge wirelessly without the need for any sort of cabling.
Shortly after the launch of the iPhone 5, Apple’s Phil Schiller was quoted as saying “wireless charging systems still have to be plugged into the wall, so it’s not clear how much convenience they add.” Many were asking why the iPhone 5 didn’t feature NFC or wireless charging, to which Schiller said that “Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated.”
So it seems that Apple doesn’t like the idea of wireless charging pads that still need to be plugged in to the wall and so is looking to kill two birds with one stone by encouraging people to use its own iMacs and peripherals to provide wireless charging to portable devices.
What do you think of Apple’s wireless charging method? Better or worse than the likes of Google and Nokia’s Qi charging stations? Let us know by commenting below or post on our Facebook page.
Via: Patently Apple